not again. i went through this agony of indecision a few years ago trying to figure out what school was right for miles. he ended up in mandarin immersion at starr king, a school visible from my window. and now that is his school, for better or worse, and he will "NEVER" go to another school and leave his friends. the school is working out pretty well for my rule-following, sporty boy with such a great memory and eye/hand for drawing and characters.
my maya is now coming up on birthday number 5, and another kindergarten application is due. if miles was not at starr king it is not the school i would choose for maya. i picture her somewhere artsy, creative, full of easels and child-led discussions. ok, i think i can picture her at creative arts charter school. i have a much harder time visualizing her in the starr king uniform, eagerly practicing characters using the correct stroke order, entering the sporty, competitive fray of the playground. maya has some mild delays in balance, fine motor, and proprioception. this throws her a little off. it is part of the wonderful person that she is. i am scared that her tendency to knock things over, to fall down, to be a silly puppy crawling on hands and knees will not be embraced at her brother's school. i am scared that the characters will be too hard for her to write and imagine her hurling her homework across the room in frustration.
i am scared of too many things, i know, and it will probably work out fine for maya at starr king. it is difficult to trust my judgment on this one, as it is on most things involving possible pain for my kiddos. do i just do as i did for miles--sign her up and see what happens? it would be strange to have kids at two different schools, one learning chinese and one not. and maya's beloved cousin is at starr king now too.
i went through this process of figuring things out with miles and came to one conclusion--that i most easily envisioned him in a place that was more like our home and his preschool, but that a place very different from our home was not necessarily the wrong place for him. and in the case of his school this has pretty much held true. but i am still not convinced this is not just rationalization of the decision to throw him into a situation where most of what he learns is in mandarin.
preschool is so safe and nurturing and full of freedom, the demands are all ones that maya handles with ease. her voice there is heard and respected. i want her to thrive and her unique little spirit to remain intact. what would you do?
3 comments:
What would I do? The short answer is I have no idea! This stuff is so hard and stressful. Of course SF don't make it easy either. You got a school you didn't choose but have chosen to stay at it. And now you're pretty much guaranteed to get the same school for Maya whatever you want because of sibling preference which is a good thing most of the time.
But the good news is that children are mostly pretty resilient and that it's not a one-time never to be changed decision, if it doesn't work out. I moved country at 5 and schools again at 7 and I turned out fine. And my children are doing the same. Yours and mine will be all right, because we are bothered about this stuff and think about it and question ourselves.
Hope that's some consolation. I don't envy you the process. It is no fun at all. And I am planning to leave for Wales once more before we have to navigate the middle school options!
E
p.s. thanks for the email - much appreciated
Hi Jamie!
similar situation here -- the school that is perfect for big bro didn't seem like as perfect a match for little sis. But it's working out great, and leaving me plenty of time before I start worrying about middle school.
miss you,
G
If the Mandarin strand doesn't work out, what about the GE strand at Starr King? Would that be an option for Maya?
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